Rate My Professor Mitra Ara

Dr. Mitra Ara is a Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at San Francisco State University, where she specializes in Persian and Iranian Studies within the field of Literature. As the founding director of the Persian & Iranian Studies Program established in 2007—the first and only multidisciplinary minor of its kind in the California State University system—she has significantly shaped the academic landscape for studying Greater Iranian cultures, languages, literatures, arts, and religions. Dr. Ara earned her B.A. in Religious Studies, M.A. in South and Southeast Asian Studies focusing on Sanskrit and Avestan religious texts, and Ph.D. in Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Joining San Francisco State University in 2007 and promoted to Professor in 2011, she teaches courses on Persianate societies, Iranian history and cultures, religions in Iran, Persian literature in translation, Iranian cinema, and world religions across departments including Philosophy-Religious Studies, International Relations, Middle East Studies, Humanities, and Cinema.

A prolific scholar and cultural historian, Dr. Ara's research centers on Indo-Iranian peoples, religions, mythology, cosmology, and eschatology. Her key publications include Eschatology in the Indo-Iranian Traditions: The Genesis and Transformation of a Doctrine (Peter Lang, 2008); Ancient Roots of Creation and Afterlife Beliefs (Peter Lang, 2020); Quatrains of Omar Khayyam, Astronomer-Poet of Persia: Metamorphosis of Nothingness (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021); A Lexicon of the Persian Language of Shiraz (Ibex Publishers); and Systematic Guide to Reading and Writing Persian Language (Ibex Publishers, first and second editions, second in 2022). She has authored numerous articles, such as "Genesis According to the Zoroastrian Book of Primal Creation Bundahishn" (American Journal of Religious Studies, 2022) and "A Comparison of the Ancient Zoroastrian Flood Saga and the Story of Noah" (International Journal of Current Research, 2017). As principal investigator, she secured grants from the U.S. Department of Education, Parsa Community Foundation, Startalk, and Strategic Language Initiative to develop Persian studies. Her contributions have been honored with the 2020 College of Liberal & Creative Arts Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Service, 2011 awards from the Office of International Programs and Strategic Language Initiative Consortium, and a 2012 Certificate of Appreciation from the Institute of International Education. Dr. Ara serves on SF State's Academic Senate, Curriculum Review & Appeal, and Fellowships Office committees, as well as the Society for Asian Art's Advisory Committee.